WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO: Planes collide mid-air at Dallas air show
Video from witnesses obtained by FOX 4 shows two planes colliding in the air during the Wings Over Dallas WWII Airshow at the Dallas Executive Airport. (Video courtesy Valerie Dinh.)
DALLAS – Federal safety investigators said a deadly air show crash in Dallas was caused by a lack of proper planning.
A Boeing B-17G bomber and a Bell P-63F fighter collided in midair at the Commemorative Air Force’s Wings Over Dallas air show in November of 2022.
All six people on board the World War II-era warbirds were killed.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its findings after a two-year investigation.
The report said the accident occurred as eight planes that were part of two separate formations were completing repositioning turns. The P-63F was in a descending left-banked turn when it struck the left wing of the B-17G from behind.
NTSB investigators conducted a simulation study. They found the pilots’ visibility was limited by their flight paths, obstructions in the cockpits, and the “attention demands associated with the air show performance.”
Graphic showing the airplanes’ descending flight paths during the final turn before the collision. (NTSB)
The report also said the probable cause of the accident was the lack of a briefing on “aircraft separation” by the show organizer.
“The air boss, equipped with binoculars and a two-way radio, directed the air show pilots’ inflight maneuvers and ground movements from atop a set of stairs on the airfield. Investigators found that although the air boss had conducted the FAA-required preshow briefing, no deconfliction plan to ensure vertical or lateral separation between airplanes was discussed, nor did current regulations require it,” the NTSB said in a news release.
NTSB has reportedly made recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, the International Council of Air Shows, and the Commemorative Air Force to try to prevent future crashes.
Its full report is expected to be posted on the NTSB accident investigation page on Thursday.
